Many Standing Rocks: Three Years and Still Fighting
The third anniversary of the Water Protectors movement at Standing Rock passed by quietly earlier this month. With the pipeline construction industry booming across the U.S. and Canada, Donald Trump seeking to bulldoze the cancelled Keystone XL Pipeline through more than 800 miles of unceded Lakota treaty territory, and at least nine state governments working […]
It’s a long way from Buenos Aires to Panama City – and the distance is not just physical. When Hernán García made his first journey to the country in 2011 as a young film student, he was captivated by the natural beauty and the cultural diversity of the country. He returned at every opportunity, and […]
Mamos of Colombia Issue Call for Help
An unprecedented wave of wildfires has devastated communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Three deaths have been reported, two victims from the Kogi and one from the Wiwa communities. Many animals have died, especially the sheep that produce wool used to make traditional bags, several mules, and horses. The costs of the damages […]
San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Oaxaca, Mexico — Twelve years ago in the verdant Ocotlán Valley of Mexico, a group of men and women of Zapotec origin watched as their crops of vegetables and flowers began to wither away. A long drought seemed destined to turn their fertile valley into a desert area. But through a […]
Mapuche Motherhood in the Age of Benetton
Moira Millán is an award-winning Mapuche activist, screenwriter and author from Argentina. She is a leader in the movement to recover her people’s ancestral lands and the founder of the Movement of Indigenous Women for “Buen Vivir,” which advocates a way of life in harmony with nature. I
Mapuche Motherhood in the Age of Benetton
Millions of feminist compañeras are claiming their rights as women in a parallel struggle of a nation for its self-determination. But I must ask about the role of Mapuche women in this process. Is there sorority with Mapuche women? Our right to maternity according to our own cosmovision is being crushed in our own territory.
Oak Flat: Apaches Fight "Murder" of Sacred Site
We have one year left to repeal the fateful decision and prevent the murder of Oak Flat, an area of great spiritual, cultural, and historic significance to many different bands, including the Apaches of San Carlos, “Arizona”. Although this very area was once designated by President Eisenhower to be protected from mining, legislative efforts began […]
Elizabeth Vega has been incorporating art into her own work – as a journalist, a poet, a hospice and social worker and an activist – for decades. But it wasn’t until the shooting death of Mike Brown at the hands of St. Louis police officers that she began to truly understand the power of art […]
“What will become of us when we go to Wirikuta and can no longer find the tutuu (peyote flower)?” – question from a participant in “Let’s Talk About Hikuri,” a series of dialogs organized by Pedro Nájera and Lisbeth Bonilla. (photo at left: Antonio Moreno Talamantes, from Naturista.mx, some rights reserved – CC BY-NC) This […]
Healing the planet, healing themselves
The sun is setting as we arrive in La Laguna. It’s been a long day of travel and an even longer week for the Ramírez family, many of whom have just completed their pilgrimage to Wirikuta, the faraway desert where they find their sacred medicine and the spiritual guidance that helps them set the course for their lives.
Wixaritari: "Out with the politicians"
MESA DEL TIRADOR, Wixárika territories, Mexico— At midnight on May 10, 2018, members of the Wixárika (Huichol) community of Wuaut+a (San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán), in the Western Sierra Madre of Mexico, took the dramatic step of blocking all entrances to their community, given the lack of response from the Mexican State for their demand to peacefully […]
‘We will extinguish the magic of Bacalar’
Now that the Bacalar Lagoon weighs a development model some liken to “the New Cancun,” a plan that would condemn it to the loss of its famous seven colors, its stromatolites and everything that makes it a truly magical place, it seemed to us it would be important to consult with an expert from the […]
Marichuy, Mexico's indigenous candidate: My goal goes beyond being president
By Angélica Almazán “We do not bring promises, we do not bring anything to give away, more than the heart, more than sweat, more than the effort of each day. It has been a difficult road because people no longer believe in anything and are tired of hearing promises. That is why we are not […]
By Tracy L. Barnett Photos by Octaviano Díaz Chema Editor’s note: On October 20, 2017, the parcel in question was formally reinstated to the community of San Sebastian at last. The federal government convened a dialogue table to find a solution. The restitution of more than 9,000 remaining hectares continues to work its way through the […]
Panama trial of three Ngäbe leaders “a pattern” of intimidation and criminalization
Left: Manolo Miranda, one of three Ngäbe leaders facing trial, explains the impacts of the Barro Blanco Dam on the Tabasará River and surrounding communities. (Jonathan González photo) By Tracy L. BarnettIntercontinental Cry Manolo Miranda, leader of an indigenous community recently flooded by the Barro Blanco dam, now faces up to two years in prison for […]
‘A wound to the heart of the community’
by Tracy L. Barnett For Intercontinental Cry Este artículo está disponible en español aquí GUADALAJARA — As commissioner of public lands for the indigenous Wixárika territory of San Sebastian Teponahuaxtlán, Miguel Vázquez Torres was at the forefront of the legal fight to recover 10,000 hectares of indigenous ancestral lands from surrounding ranching communities. He was […]
Left: Clementina Pérez and other Ngäbe-Bugle members of the encampment against the Barro Blanco Dam that has flooded several Ngäbe communities and destroyed their sacred Tabasará River ecosystem. (Tracy L. Barnett photo) Story and photos by Tracy L. Barnett for Global Sisters Report Sr. Edia “Hermana Tita” López was living out her mission as a […]
Left: Weni Bagama, a deputy in the Ngäbe-Buglé Congress and leader in the fight against Barro Blanco, heads for a meeting in the comarca capital of Llano Tugrí. Below, Döegeo Gallardo and Göejet Miranda paddle home through the dead zone that was once a shady, fish-filled river. (Tracy L. Barnett) Story and photos by Tracy L. […]
Standing Rock: Feeding a movement
Above: Mick Waggoner and Bonnie Wykman, above, run a tight ship at the Southwest Camp Hogan. Story and photos by Rain Stites Their day begins before the sun rises. Fellow campers slumber while Mick Waggoner and the rest of the kitchen crew quietly tiptoe through the makeshift kitchen of foldable tables and camp stoves. Lanterns […]
By Tracy L. Barnett and Tami Brunk For Intercontinental Cry and The Esperanza Project OCETI SAKOWIN CAMP, N.D.—A winter lull in activities for Water Protectors at Standing Rock is about to come to an end. An executive order confirming the incoming administration’s commitment to forge ahead – not just with the Dakota Access Pipeline, but […]
Mexican ranchers and Huichol people urge government to solve land conflict
By Tracy L. Barnett For Thomson Reuters News Service LA YESCA, Mexico, Dec 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Audelina Villagrana has run her ranch in Mexico’s Western Sierra Madre mountains on her own since the death of her husband 23 years ago, herding livestock, hiring local Huichol people and even raising a young Huichol boy like […]
By Tracy L. Barnett STEELE, N.D., Dec 8 – We only made it 70 miles from Oceti Sakowin Camp in Standing Rock when a whiteout and fierce winds forced us to seek refuge in this tiny town, where the Kidder County Ambulance District and a wonderful EMT nurse named Mona Thompson took us in like […]
Tracy L. Barnett Intercontinental Cry A contingent of at least 1,000 indigenous Wixárika (Huichol) people in the Western Sierra Madre are gearing up to take back their lands after a legal decision in a decade-long land dispute with neighboring ranchers who have held the land for more than a century. Ranchers who have been in […]
San Antonio Missions preserve Native American history in Texas’ first World Heritage Site
Story and photos by Tracy L. Barnett For The Washington Post Two weathered gravestones sit in a small, dusty rectangle in front of the grand Spanish church at the heart of the nation’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site, the San Antonio Missions. I’ve been to Mission San Jose many times — to attend the lively […]
Remembering Yuka+ye: Wixarika teacher and activist left a storied legacy
Story and photos by Tracy L. Barnett For El Daily Post While most people were celebrating the holidays, others from Canada to Mexico mourned the loss of a leading Wixarika scholar and teacher, a cultural ambassador and an indigenous activist whose work on behalf of indigenous unity spanned North America. Yuka+ye Jesús Lara Chivarra’s path […]
10 Films You Need To Watch On This International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
By John Ahni Schertow Intercontinental Cry For over two decades, the United Nations has observed the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9. An effort to promote and help protect the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, each year the event is attributed to a specific theme. This year, the theme is […]
Huicholes Film wins best documentary: Red Nation Film Festival
The film Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians has won Best Documentary Film by the Red Nation Film Festival, the premier showcase for Native American and Indigenous film in the United States. The award was shared with The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo, by director Wynn Ponder and producer Johnny Depp. The selection was […]
El Llamado de Quetzalcoatl: Materializando la Visión
Por Tracy L. Barnett Traducido por Angélica Narákuri TEMICTLA, México – Si alguna vez hubo duda de que Quetzalcóatl vive, esa duda fue disipada en una luminosa, húmeda y brillante semana en el corazón de México. Aquí en Temictla, un valle sagrado, una pequeña ecoaldea y un centro de retiro espiritual en el borde de […]
Film chronicles the movement to save a sacred land and a visionary culture
The film Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians will be on a North American tour with 30+ screenings in more than 20 cities in the United States and Canada, with the U.S. premiere at Rice Theater in Houston, Texas, and theCanadian premiere hosted by Cinema Politica in Montreal, Quebec. The documentary presents the emblematic case of […]